Posted on 09/26/2002 4:23:38 PM PDT by blam
Spooky finds in German archaeological dig
September 25 2002 at 07:44PM
Nebra, Germany - Archaeologists offered a first glimpse on Wednesday of a lost culture's holy site atop a German peak, and confirmed it as the source of the world's oldest map of the heavens.
The exact location has been kept secret for weeks, amid fears that treasure-seekers would move in and disturb Bronze Age remains.
The site is atop the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180km south-west of Berlin.
Adding a spooky touch is the discovery that, seen from the Mittelberg, the sun sets every June 22 behind the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany. The Brocken is in a direct line of sight on a clear day, 85km to the north-west.
'The oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world' The Brocken is fabled in northern European mythology as the place where witches gather for a coven every April 30.
Scientists are still scratching their heads at the full meaning of a 32cm bronze-and-gold disc found by treasure hunters on the Mittelberg in 1999. The map on its face shows the Brocken as well as 32 stars including the Pleiades.
Experts in pre-history can only guess at the identity of the people who made the "Nebra Disc" 3 600 years ago.
"This disc, with the oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world, was placed in a pit in the middle of a ringwall during the early Bronze Age," Harald Meller, the chied archaeologist in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said on Wednesday.
"We still don't know if it was a princely grave or a treasure store for holy objects."
On Wednesday reporters were shown a clearing where the archaeological dig had gone down about half a metre into the soil, leaving what appeared to be loose stone walls standing. The site was once surrounded by wooden palisades and a complex of defensive ditches.
Wolfhard Schlosser, an expert in ancient astronomy at the University of the Ruhr, added, "The ringwall was built in such a way that the sun seemed to disappear every equinox behind the Brocken."
Experts believe the map and site formed an observatory, which was used to set the calendar for planting and harvesting crops.
The nearby forest contains 1 000 barrows or princely graves from the period, but little else is known about the lost people, who are not mentioned in ancient Greek or other Mediterranean sources.
Meller said two bronze swords found at the site had been made with a technique unique to Mycenaean and Anatolian swords, and had a similar shape to arms found in modern Romania and Hungary. The site is to become a tourist attraction when the dig finishes in a year or two. - Sapa-DPA
What is even more amazing is that when they made these calendars, they did not even know it was 3,600 years ago. How do you explain that?
I thought you'd catch that. Remember the tree rings and ice cores recorded a world wide disaster in 1628BC (Same time as the Exodus from Egypt, ahem)
I don't get your question. ??
Yep, about the same time. I wonder if that's the same time the Sahara dried up.
I knew I could tie it in with Armegeddon if I just looked closely.
(patting my back as a true endtimeologist..yeah baby!)
I still don't get what you're trying to say. ??
It would explain why human sacrifice started.
a.cricket
Theres a couple of guys I'd like to sacrifice
Santorini blew up, big time.
AHEM yourownself, Blam. Works for me as a pretty good time for the Israelite bailout by sea from Egypt for the "proto-Celts", prior to the later and larger exodus by land for the rest of the Israelites. But regardless how you pencil it, that date doesn't work for the main exodus.
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